London scientists conclude a person with no post-secondary education is more likely to experience long-term whiplash

You might think an old person whose car is crushed from behind is likely to suffer from long-lasting whiplash.

Think again.

A woman who hasn’t gone to college or university is at greater risk. Those are some of the surprising findings by London scientists who reviewed studies on whiplash across the globe between 2007 and 2012.

The issue is hardly trivial: A Saskatchewan study once found people injured in car crashes claimed whiplash as much as 83% of the time.

As many of half of whiplash victims will suffer long-term effects, so London scientists set out to find out how doctors might separate those who will more likely recover quickly from this who will not.

Among their more notable findings:

Those with no university or college education were twice as likely to experience long-term whiplash than those with post-secondary education.

Women were 64% more likely than men to report long-term whiplash.

“The importance of early identification of those people at risk of developing chronic problems has recently been highlighted,” concludes a study led by Dr. David Walton and published in The Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy.

“Establishing a prognosis is an important role of the clinician. The results of this (review) add to what is known about clinical variables that can be used,” researchers wrote.

Women, those without post-secondary education and motorists who didn’t wear seat belts, or who had the following, were more likely to have long-term problems from whiplash:

More neck and lower back pain and a headache after the collision.

Neck pain before the collision

More and worse whiplash symptoms from the get-go

The authors also looked at four variables which were found to show no predictive value: pre-existing headache complaints, rear-end collision, older age and collision severity.

While doctors sift the medical evidence, insurers say there’s a simple precaution most people don’t take — adjust your head rest so that its top is in line with the top of your head.

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